Dinner in a Pumpkin

I got this recipe from a very talented lady I visit taught in SLC. I tried this recipe last fall and it was yummy, easy and quite festive! Happy Halloween everyone!

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 pumpkin (about 10-12 inches across)

2 Tbsp. cooking oil

2 lbs. ground beef, browned

1 small can tomato sauce

1 chopped green pepper

15-20 baby carrots, chopped

4-5 small potatoes, cubed

2 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. oregano

2 1/2 Tbsp. finely chopped or grated onion

1 tsp. vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced, or garlic salt to taste

3 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and remove top rack. Place pumpkin on a jelly roll pan, cut out top of pumpkin, clean out seeds and guts, rub oil on the inside of pumpkin and cook with lid on for an hour at 350 degrees while you prepare what will go inside. (If you don't pre-cook the pumpkin a bit, it doesn't cook sufficiently for you to scrape the sides of the pumpkin at the end.) Brown the meat while you boil the carrots and potatoes to a semi-soft state. To the meat I add the tomato sauce (2 cans of sauce sometimes) and the cut green pepper. In a bowl I combine the last 7 ingredients. When the veggies are cooked, add them to the meat mixture and then pour the bowl mixture on it all. When the pumpkin is ready, remove the lid and add the meat and veggie mixture, replace lid and cook for another hour at 350 degrees. Remove from oven, remove lid and serve, scraping the sides of the pumpkin to add to the yummy meat mixture. It may need some Spike or additional salt and pepper.